Taking the Soup

The different aspects of Bessie Smith Moulton's Taking the Soup, including the wooden recipe box (left), the section cards (inside the box), the closed recipe cards (top left), and an open recipe card (botton left).

Bessie Smith Moulton

Taking the Soup, 2007

Digitally Printed

Presented as recipe cards in a wooden box, Taking the Soup highlights food as a metaphor, connection, and power and weapon. Food is not only a basic necessity, but it is also used around the world to celebrate, honor, commemorate, and sanctify in different cultures. This book examines the influence of food in relation to culture and identity, as well as social justice issues like poverty (starvation and famine) and illness (obesity and anorexia), among many others. Pervading our lives at an intrinsic level, food affects all with its unseen power and meaning.